Malinowitz Response

BEFORE YOU READ:

I personally hate the word "Queer". I hate when people use it in the wrong form. It is derogatory and hurtful. Growing up in German Village, I was surrounded by gay, lesbian, and bisexual couples and culture. I was taught to respect people's choices and that their sexual preferences did not make them any less of a person. I hate when people use words to hurt others.

SUMMARY:

In "Queer Texts, Queer Contexts", she talks about how today's society treats the gay/lesbian community and its members. She gives examples of the discrimination, talking about in every day tasks to even the classroom. She talks about some of the struggles that the community has fought and some of the things they have over come, such as marriage and "Don't ask; Don't tell." She talks about the ways that the community is affected and their effects on outsiders to the community. 

SYNTHESIS:3

I compared Malinowitz with McCloud to begin with. They both use a good amount of their articles talking about identity and masks. McCloud talks about how in certain situations people use the mask to appear different than who they are really. Malinowitz claims that gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender people should not have to hide who they really are in the classroom, the church, and many other situations where their "lifestyle" is not accepted. This can also tie with Wardle with Identity being a key point for many of the same reasons as McCloud. I think that Malinowitz's article also ties in with the article by Gee, who also mentions Identity. But Gee also talks about primary/secondary groups, and Malinowitz talks about how the GLBT community needs to form both forms of groups or at least find a way to better interact between the two groups to ease tension.

DIALECTICAL NOTEBOOK:5

RESPONSE	QUOTE
This quote makes me think that it's not only student's battling their sexual identity and who they are, but also teachers, administrators and staff.	In the last few years, there has been a subtle but persistent change in the classroom climate around the subject of sexual orientation. page 110
We do not understand these people, because they are not given a chance to learn to understand themselves. Typically when people show signs of being different they are redirected back to the "norm" even if they go their entire life pretending to be "normal".	Yet our understanding of lesbian and gay subjectivities- and of the role of sexual identity in producing discourse generally- remains quite limited. page 112
The problem with media versus real life, is that TV and movies can glamorize or also give these people a bad name. In real life, individuals struggle to please others in fear for being ostracized for being different.	Behind the media glitz and hype, most academic institutions and the communities that contain them are still homophobic enough to discourage teachers and students from coming out of even speaking out strongly for a change. page 112-13
This quote angers me. It is so outdated and unfair to be close minded in our generation. The things our  parents and grandparents faced growing up are over and we do not still feel the same way that their parents and grandparents felt. Why should we not move forward with our society and write history much like our grandparents and parents.	Other's frankly acknowledge their anti gay feelings and beliefs, secure that cultural precedent has rendered them understandable and acceptable. page 114.
This quote is also much like women fighting to vote in the 20's and all the equal rights in the 60's. GLBT groups should not be afraid to gather and promote themselves and voice their wants and needs.	Much has been at stake for lesbian and gay people, not only in coming together and mobilizing as a group, but in promoting a sense of this group as a group to the society at large. page 115

THOUGHTS: 5

I really enjoyed this article. I did not realize how cruel and unacceptting some people were of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Growing up I never thought anything was wrong with their choices. My oldest nephew came out his freshman year of college, and although it has made certain members of our family uncomfortable I have stood behind him and supported him and will continue to. Who you love has no effect on who you are. There are couples out there who are doing worse things, so why can't two people who love each other be happy together? Regardless of their gender.

DeVitt Response

BEFORE YOU READ:

•     computer
•     cell phone
•     verbal
•     print (notes, books, worksheets)

SUMMARY:
In Devitt's part of the article she talks about jury instructions as a genre. She talks about how language and jargon effect the outcome of court cases. She talks about how a single word can mean one thing to the court and another thing to the jury. She talks about how the jury must break down and process the terms they are presented with properly and individually so that they can make the proper verdict.

SYNTHESIS: 3
I tied Devitt's article to Gee with the way they both talk about discourses, and how they need the participants to be fully involved. I also tied this to Porter who is the foundation for all of our readings on discourse. I also tied this to Swales with the ties to language and the "lexus" and jargon and how each community has their own language.

DIALECTICAL NOTEBOOK: 5

RESPONSE	QUOTES
Discourse communities are primary and secondary groups. If it is your primary group, it is very small, intimate, and almost impossible to leave or for outsiders to enter. This makes us see that outsiders typically do not understand as well as members.	Abstracted from real social situations, discourse communities may appear stable to advocates and critics assuming an imaginary consensus and a shared purpose that do not reflect real experience within communities. page 98
For people who are not as used to ethnography as another, things can be hard for them to find their footing and a place to start. By teaching students how to do it properly we can be assured that they will be able to use their findings properly.	The process of sifting through the massive quantities of information gathered and attempting to stake out some analytical claims can present a major hurdle, particularly for student ethnographers. page 98
When individuals bring outside and unrelated interests into the community it can cause tension for other members who are not interested in them.	But it is when genres encompass participants beyond a narrow community that the effects of those interests become most troublesome. page 99
This sparks the idea that we should not select random citizens to be jury members. Jury duty should be conformed into a career where schooling and some bases of legal education are needed. If we create this into a job, we will not have the problems faced by misunderstandings of jargon.	As a result, juries do not and cannot interpret the genre the way it's creators intended, as lawyers would, and cannot render verdicts that follow those instructions fully and accurately, thus resulting in significant consequences, particularly for defendants. page 100
This also highlights on the above quote. When outside members of the community are involved wires become crossed and mis-communications occur and we lose focus.	Part of the difficulty when specialized communities write to nonspecialists users lies in technical language, a difficulty commonly recognized and often addressed through defining key terms, but most of he difficulty comes from differences of interest and value that definitions cannot control. page 101

META MOMENT:

·         I think that you need both to properly be involved. You really can not do anything with out getting a second opinion or having a second source. Much like in doing research you need to be somewhat involved in the actual action you are researching for better understanding and to become a better sponsor for the subject. 

THOUGHTS:
I liked this article to an extent. I think that she makes a good point in stating that because of language and legal jargon can confuse common folk citizens that are selected for jury duty. If this is a problem, why do we not have a "jury career" with college courses and it is a part of the legal field. I think that this would make much of the "mistrials" and "wrongfully accused" cases disappear. I think if we treat it like any other type of job court cases would go a lot smoother.

Project 3 proposal

For this project I will look into the discourse of my place of employment, which is Jefferson Dining Hall. I plan to interview the staff and some of the customers. I plan to look at how authority is involved in the community. I want to look into how the higher the position of the worker the more effort is put into the job. I want to do a survey, but also some unobtusive studying as well. I plan to not let them know I am observing. I really am excited to do this project and find out more about the people in my community both because they tell me and also what I find out.

Project Evaluation

     I thought that our project went very well. At first we were stuck on a topic, thinking of the things that all four of us had in common was hard because we came from all different types of backgrounds. We talked about how we all knew how to ride a bike and how we learned to drive a car. Then we thought about how we went to a party school so maybe we could see what people thought about drinking and the consequences of it.
     Each of us took our own personal narratives from a different view point and put them together to see where we wanted to go from there. Eventually we decided to do interviews, a survey, and personal stories. We broke down the data and responses we got and found that we had a lot in common with our fellow students. We found that nearly half of the students who responded to our survey stated that they had their first drink in high school and their parents were their sponsors, and half stated that they knew someone with an alcohol problem.
    I think that our group worked really well together. I think that we had a lot of good team work and effort put into our project and lots of good ideas that everyone was open to and discussed everything we put on the website before we posted it. I think that we did a great job on our website, only one of us was the only one with prior experience with the website.
     I think I learned a lot about not only myself and my drinking, but about my fellow classmates and students. I think that by doing this project it was a great way to teach others about alcohol literacy, and about building strong bonds with people who were randomly thrown together into a group.
   

Wardel Response

BEFORE YOU READ:
I think that so far in college, my personality has changed because of where I live and who I live with. I think that it's funny because when I moved in, I was shy and kept to myself and my own room, and eventually grew out of my shell and became very good friends with everyone I live with. Also by becoming more like the people I live with, I have made more friends outside of the mod and also the group of friends I already had.

SUMMARY:
In her article, Wardel talks about discourse communities, how to have a sense of identity, authority, and how to participate in activity systems and avoid rebellion. She states "Of particular interests to professional communication specialists is research suggesting that learning to write in and for new situations and work places is complex in ways that go far beyond texts and cognitive workers" page 521. This makes a great opening statement where she gives us a layout of what she plans to discuss in her article.

SYNTHESIS:
Wardel's article ties to identity and how you see yourself and how others see you ties to McCloud's article which talks about the Mask and how we use different masks in different situations and when we meet different people. It ties to Gee and Swales with the talk of discourse and discourse communities.

DIALECTICAL NOTEBOOK:

RESPONSE	QUOTE
These makes us thing that we need to realize that how we are seen as individuals outside of the workplace and how we are seen in our job position are different and must act accordingly.	"To tease out relationships between identity and writing in the workplace, we need theories that consider the workplace as a legitimate and important influence on subject formation". page 522
When you are new to a job you not only must become involved in getting to know coworkers and the system of working, but also must learn your new place among the other workers.	"To fully participate, according to Wenger, new workers must find ways to engage in the work that other community members do, including the writing they do; newcomers must be able to imagine their own work- and writing- as being an important part of a larger enterprise". page 524
Even if how you are seen at work does not coincide with how we are known outside of our job. If you feel that you are not at the right level, you should not act above your level.	"At times however, participation in new communities requires accepting for oneself identities that are at odds with the values of other communities to which one belongs". page 525
Just because you are given power over other coworkers does not mean that you will always have that power. And if you misuse it you will be removed or demoted.	"Authority is bestowed by institutions,  can be just as easily withdrawn by those same institutions or its members, and must be maintained through appropriate expressions of authority". page 527
This talks about how Alan was seeing himself in a higher position than he really was. His coworkers, saw him as a lower level, but he saw himself as an equal.	"He was an outsider, a worker unlike the other community members in age, education, occupation, linguistic abilities, and concern for conventions". page 531

 QD:

4.) I think that there are a lot of time people misuse language and also body language. I think that some times we do not realize how the things we say can go along with our surroundings and the people who share our environment.  

THOUGHTS:

I thought that Wardle' article was a good explanation about how identity and authority play a key role into joining a discourse community. In her example of Alan and his new job she gives us a detailed account of how misusing one's status can deteriorate their colleagues' belief of if they are needed. By burning bridges with coworkers we see that to remain in the learning community we must keep to appearances and know our place.  His failure was sad, but we learn from his mistakes.

Gee Response

BEFORE YOU READ:
The term means contraband, in prison it is a legal object that is obtained illegally.

SUMMARY:
Gee talks about in his article about Discourses, he talks about primary and secondary communities. He gives details about how each effects the members and the requirements needed to be involved. He talks about how some Discourses have tension or conflict when the communities do not interact well. He also ties most of the definitions to language and how it is mistaken for grammar.

SYNTHESIS: 3
Gee's article compares to Porter much like it does with Swales because they all three talk about discourse communities and how they effect and control the individuals involved. Also compares to McCloud on the leg of the Mask and the Individual. McCloud mentions how we change our outside appearance and how we act depending on our surroundings and the people around us.

DIALECTICAL NOTEBOOK:

RESPONSE	QUOTES:
I agree with this quote because some people do not know the difference between the two.	"Language is a misleading term; it too often suggests 'grammar'." page 483
This ties to a "primary group" in sociology which is the first group to socialize an individual, most likely a small group, ex: family or friends.	"This initial Discourse, which I call our primary Discourse, is the one we first use to make sense of the world and interact with others". page 485
This ties the two types together because if it is mastery it is most likely a secondary discourse community.	"We can talk about dominant literacies and non-dominant literacies in terms of whether they involve mastery of dominate or non-dominant secondary discourses". page 486
This I do not agree with because the primary source is always the one to open up the literacy.	"Primary Discourses, no matter whose they are, can never be liberating literacies". page 487
Discourses are for peer review and helping each other, so you would teach others more than you would write for them.	"Within a Discourse you are always teaching more than writing or reading". page 488

META MOMENT:
I think that I agree with Gee's comment that you can not be a part time member. I think that to do your best you have to give your all. If you don't try and be a dedicated participant you can not truly understand and be involved in the conversation and the movements and activities that the community takes on.

THOUGHTS:
I enjoyed Gee's article a lot. Much of what he says and the terms he use are similar to something we are learning about in my sociology class. We are talking about institutions, the statuses, roles, and other things that make up the institutions and what makes them run properly. Much of what Gee says makes me think that he could possibly do some writing for a sociology book.

Swales response

BEFORE YOU READ:
I felt out of place in the first week of college. I lived in a new town, room, and with strangers, and I had no idea what to think of what my classes or professors would be like. Would I find my way around campus? Should I go out on the weekends? What if I can't find decent friends? I quickly tried to get involved and found people that I had more that one class with and we would walk together. Also the people I live with became very close with everyone and we hang out all the time. I feel more at home in Athens now, and laugh about how unsure I was.

SUMMARY:
Swales' article talks about what makes up a discourse community. He talks about how we join them and how it becomes the bases for our lives and actions. "Community involves discourse and discourse involves community" page 469, makes you understand that the two are interchangeable. Swales also talks about the criteria for a DC, giving us six characteristics that id the communities. He talks about how they vary in type and activities, and that you can have temporary membership to them, you do not always have to be involved in everything they do.

SYNTHESIS:
Swales's article compares to Porters' obviously with the topic of discourse community. Although Swales goes into more detail about what exactly makes up a community and their development levels. Also compares to Malcolm X with talking about the lexus and that compares to Malcolm's sponsorship with why people learn or join communities. Also compares to Gee with Discourse community and and both mention how people need to belong to the community and meet requirements.

QD:
5.) My learning community that I belong to is my mod. We are all here to get degrees and hopefully use them to get good jobs in the future. We have a lexus and genre that is affected differently be each of us as individuals and we come from different backgrounds and different upbringings.

6.) Recently my roommate began having problems and I thought that moving out would help things, at least let me be happier. The people in my mod held a meeting between me and my roommate to work things out. I didn't want to talk things out I just wanted to leave, but by talking and getting things out on the table we worked things out and got back on the same page. Now we are working towards making things work between us again and the people in my mod are happier knowing that I'm staying and happy.

THOUGHTS:
I really didn't like his article I felt that he was very condescending  Also I feel that sometimes communities don't meet every requirement but that doesn't mean that it is any less of a discourse community. I did agree however with how he said you can be a partial participant and not always be involved with the community. I liked how his article was similar to Gee's as well.

Pollan Responses

SUMMARY:
In Pollan's article he talks about how the food industry has changed since previous years. He talks about how the way that our food has been prepared has changed, how health conditions have become more serious about how the food we eat, changes not only our bodies, but our genetic makeup. Also how our food is prepared, based on fossil fuels, has increased over time.

SYNTHESIS:
Pollan's article compares to Glenn's because they both talk about how the main point of everything is profit. They talk about how no matter what the field is, the means of making money is the highest priority of all. We take short cuts to keep their own costs down, but have no compassion to the spending the expenses needed to care for the products. The article also compares to Porter, with how all information we have comes from previous things we have read and the information we get from outside sources. This ties in with the stats and detailed ideas and suggestions.

DIALECTICAL NOTEBOOK:

RESPONSE	QUOTE
This talks about how the amount and pricing of food is not the only issue we face in the food industry. It talks about how we "double talk" like Glenn's article talks about, that a secretary does what ever the central nerve tells the cells of the body to do about bad press.	"Complicating matters is the fact that the price and abundance of food are not only problems we face; if they were, you could simply follow Nixon's example, appoint a latter day Earl Butz as your secretary of agriculture and instruct him or her to do whatever it takes to boost production."
This quote makes me sick, because it makes me think that our food is actually bad for us, and that things that we are told are good for us, aren't.	"Put another way, when we eat from the industrial food system, we are eating oil and spewing green house gases."
This is a weird statement but it makes us think that if the President of the United States eats organic, wouldn't it become a bigger trend?	"Your probably thinking that growing and eating organic foods in the White House carries a certain political risk."
This makes me think of how in high school I was in a class that not only taught us about the food groups and how to be smart eaters, but we would have labs where we were taught to cook ourselves.	"To change our children's food culture, we'll need to plant gardens in every primary school, build fully equipped kitchens, train a new generation of lunch ladies (and gentleman) who can once again cook, and teach children to cook.
This talks about how if we change our food industry we would benefit greatly.	"A decentralized food system offers a great many other benefits as well."

 THOUGHTS:

I think that this article has a lot of valid points and ideas. There were a lot of facts and stats compared and contrasted throughout decades in America's food industry. The problem I had that impacted my reading the most was that it was difficult to read and hard to comprehend because it was in letter form, and because of all the facts and stats. I think that Pollan has good ideas, but I don't think that our industry will change or allow for the market to break down the way they believe it should be.

Glenn Response

BEFORE YOU READ:

1.        I really wasn't around a lot of farm animals growing up. I lived in the city and the only family we had that was "farm-ish" was my great uncle Bob and my great aunt Vicki. They lived a little outside the Heath/Newark area about twenty minutes with a large cattle farm. They would occasionally have the whole family out for special parties. The cows would be out behind the house in a large pin that had lots of room to move around. Being as young as I was I wasn't told what was done with the animals exactly. I still do not know what was done with them, but I hope it wasn't the same as what is done in some videos I've seen on the internet. 

SUMMARY:
In the beginning of her article she gives a historical background on the farms and in a way the animals treatments and how nature is used. Then she talks about "double speak" which is a discourse style associated with the factory farm industry, and is in meaning of promotion and also redeeming, in the ways of covering for bad press. She follows up talking about animal rights and "happy cows". She finishes her article with different ways to study, revise, and remodel not only the way animals are treated but also the education levels that consumers are taught to know more about what is really going on.

SYNTHESIS:
Glenn's article compares to Porter's article because both talk about discourse communities. Glenn actually goes into details to mention specific communities involved with animal treatment and such. She mentions how to better educate these same communities in her third sub section. It also compares to Pollan's article with teh means of profit. Profit is thought to be over everything. So we are known for giving animals cheap grains and other types of food sources to save money for the company.

DIALECTICAL NOTEBOOK: five quotes

Response:	Quote:
This makes me think about the way that we treat "domestic animals", like cats or dogs, which we feed, shelter, love, even treat as children. And then how we treat "wild" and "farm" animals, as if they are products solely for consumption.	"In these three narratives, the human animals are directly connected to the land and to the nonhuman animals they use and consume- thy live with, hunt alongside, know, understand, and respect both the land and other animals they exploit." page 144
Discourses and problems with animals's rights have been an underlying problem that has been pulsing throughout our nation since it was founded. Before animals were used for not only food, but also for labor. Now that we use technology, they are only seen as product for consumption.	"The technological meta-discourse, influenced by colonial discourses, assumes that human's relationship to their environment is one mediated by the use of technology to facilitate a consumerist approach to natural resource exploitation." page 146
This mentions doublespeak which is where they turn the tables on negative press that they receive for the way the animals are treated.	"Dunayer points to numerous examples of factory-farming language that, I argue, constitute doublespeak, and each accomplishes the same objective: using sterile language to hide violence." page 147
This is an example of doublespeak, but also an example of "spinning". Spinning which is very popular among the rich and famous and the media, is a way to turn key words into double meanings.	"The factory farming discourse hides vicious practices by constructing them as 'natural', 'accommodating', and 'comfortable' for the animals confined in the factory." page 149
This is disheartening because if we treat animals as if they are a product, how would we treat humans in the same aspect. Not stating that we should eat them, but rather than see something as a stat, we should see it for what it is, a living being.	"For the factory farm, as in other corporations, the bottom line is profit." page 149

Q.D.1:

The main characteristics are, the creation, sustainability, and constructed strategies to make things cruel and dangerous to the environment. This makes the factory farm seem like a looming and intimidating problem that no one knows how to handle. And the discourse is unethical because if whether or not the farm actually does practice humane treatment of animals, there will always be people who do not agree and support them. We need to get the facts out on the table and not have double speak or spinning added to the argument at hand and let the facts and realities speak for themselves so that we can move forward in means of creating more safe, sanitary, and better for all those involved farms.

THOUGHTS: 

I think that Glenn has a decent argument and did loads of research before entering into the argument and positioning herself among others who feel similar. She does however seem to be biased and very self centered with what she wants the outcome to be for not only the animals, but the entire discourse community. She makes good points and I liked that she gave the definitions to terms that she coined and discovered during research. I think that she could have used less graphic wording for some examples because hearing about what happens to baby pigs made me sick to my stomach.  

Wysocki Response

• Do 1 "Before you Read" exercise
• Looked up Frankenstein
• Summarize
• In her article "The sticky embrace of beauty", Anne Francis Wysocki talks about the way that advertisement and the way that the human form are used to promote several different types of responses. She talks about how the female form is not always used in a sexual or explicit way, but rather a maternal, nurturing way to remind us of our mothers, since that is our first memory. She explains that when the woman's form is used in the sexual or explicit form is when problems arise and men and other women become violent in nature and misuse the art form.
• Synthesize
• I saw many different connections in this article, the first is clearly with Berger, who in his article  talks about the female form and the usage. He also talks about how females are very self aware and Wysocki also mentions this. I also connected it to McCloud, who discusses how images and pictures are a good way to get one's point across and also persuade. Also McCloud brings up the "mask" which can be consistent with photo shop and also just model selection, which Wysocki talks about in how the body is seen with out imperfections and the articles of clothing are like paper doll clothes, placed on at random. I also assoicated Wysocki's article with Kantz's article with the Rhetorical Triangle. In Wysocki's article it is an arch and mentions the connection between concept and sensation. This is similar to Kantz's with the connections between the author, audience, topic, ect. (insert any ideas into the triangle and its connectors). 
• Dialectical notebook (include at least 5 quotations, typed out in fll)

• 	This example states that it is natural for people, both male and female to be drawn to the woman's body shape. It is a simple and easy advertisment ploy and does not have sexual prefrences or hidden meaning.	"That is, with Kant, we are to understand our bodily responses and tastes as being the same as everyone else's because the categories we use for creating understanding out of sensation." page 95
  She explains in a similar way to Berger that women are objectified in pictures to be explicit and sexual as a means to sell products and make revenue for companies.	"It is easy to articulate a particular and well-known kind of anger about the Peek layout, about the layout being just one more in the endless piled of painted, photographed, and drawn representations of women shown as only sexual and now used for selling, so that we all- men and women- are pushed to see women only as sexual objects, as objects serving as means to the ends of others." page 93
  This ties together with her little chart that is similar to the Rhetorical Triangle, yet Wysocki's example is an arch.	"Aesthetic judgement is thus the awareness of a harmonious and interpenetrating relation between the parts of Kant's analysis, between the necessity of nature and the freedom of reason." page 89
  This quote is alittle creepy to me, I feel that it may be true because the first memory that most people have is of their mother. But I feel that our attention should not be drawn to that of a naked woman's body in memory of our mother.	"Another response to the possibility that we are meant to see this woman as alone with her thoughts comes from Bang, from her suggestion that I have the pleasure I do in seeing the curves of this woman's body because they are a sweet memory of maternal security and comfort." page 85
  This explains why we look where we do at the article. This has to do with the point of reference, which is an art term.	"It is because of this contrast: this is the lightest thing in the design and the only large rounded shape." page 80

• AE 1 1.      Why do you think that one artwork is up for interpretation? Have you felt differently than your peers or the general consensus about a piece of art? Elaborate on your thoughts.
• Art work can be seen many different ways. Its mostly based on the reaction or response of the viewer. But much like in Berger's article he mentions that the artist is not the viewer but rather the owner is. So therefore art is responded to differently  by all people. Not only that but also intertextuality could play a factor in the way a piece is viewed. How does it relate to the viewer? Have they experienced a similar action? What is happening in the piece do they know what is going on?
• Your thoughts (go as in depth as you can)
• My thoughts on this article were that I felt like i was reading a very extended synthesis. I understood what she was trying to explain about the advertisement but I feel that she compared and contrasted and quoted too many different sources that I became bored and uninterested. I was drawn in by her opening statement and the example of the picture, as I am sure most readers are, but I feel that I would have not only paid more attention and retained more information, but rather I would have enjoyed the piece better had it not been so repetitive with the synthesis theme. This article reminded me a lot of Berger's and McCloud's with the topic and also the examples to placement and usage. 

Baron Responset

• "Before you read" 
• pencil
• blogs
• computer
• sources (online, books, articles, journals)
• microsoft word
• Summary
• In Baron's article "Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies" he talks about how the pencil has been replaced by the leaps and bounds of technology in society. He touches base on how the pencil was first created and how it evolved into what it is today. He also talks about how technology is used and almost feared when it first comes out. The unknown power of new technology instills an uncertainty in most people who are hesitant to buy into the fad. In more modern times since this article was written ( a 13 year gap) we realize now that people line up days before a product is released to be the first to have it. We find this connection to the past difficult after people would not buy products until they were certain that they would be needed. Now we buy products because they are new. 
• Synthesis 
• I would say that Baron's article is similar to the articles of Allen and LaMott. Baron's article ties to Allen and LaMott's for the same reason, process and evolution of writing. Allen and LaMott both talk about how the writing process takes time and changes and growns, LaMott talks about having multiple drafts and expansion. Baron's article talks about how technology not only changes and evolves itself, but also the writing process and the way we write. 
• Dialectical notebook 

• This quote makes me realize that computers are a common way that children learn now a days. Many schools not only use them to teach but also there are programs that teach children to read and also other tasks.	"The computer is also touted as a gateway to literacy." page 423
  Anyone can post anything on the internet whether it be true or not. There is a commercial where the girl says she met a guy on the internet who claims he is a "french model" and she believes it even though he knows no french and is unattractive.	"One of the greatest concerns about computer communications today involves their authentication and their potential for fraud." page 425
  Without the pencil being invented would we have the same written language we do today? The question, and many like it go unanswered because the invention and evolution of writing created literacy.	"The development of the pencil is also a paradigm of the development of literacy." page 426
  Writing was not the same as it was for cave people as it is for our generation. They did it to tell stories and record events, now a days it is used as many more things like communication and education as well as story telling and event records.	"We normally assume that writing was invented to transcribe speech, but that is not strictly correct." page 427
  Like all new things, people fear change. That is why when different things come about it is almost shunned before it is accepted.	"Just like the telegraph and the computer, writing was once an innovation strongly resisted by traditionalists because it was unnatural and untrustworthy." page 426

• QD 1
• The Uni bomber was an individual who would mail homemade bombs to different writers and computer literate people and harm them for fear of computer and writing spreading. He was finally caught and created tons of turmoil in the american public's mind and in the news. 
• Your thoughts
• This article made me think a lot about how our lives are effected by technology anymore. Its odd to think that pencils and writing can be grouped into "technology" but just like an electronic, it evolved and took hold in peoples lives as an every day thing. I think that the article is very accurate other than its almost 15 years old, and our technology acceptance has grown since when the first computers and other types of technology began emerging.

Learning to Read

Much like the average Kindergarten student, I sat at my desk with my over sized pencil gripped in a shaking sweaty little fist and slowly started the practiced curves of my name. G. I. N. A. Learning to read and write for me was a bit of a challenge I want to say. If I remember correctly I hated going out into the hall to run through my letter flashcards and was bored with it. I loved my mom reading me stories at bedtime. And my thought was, 'Why should I learn if I have her?' Eventually I caved in and became obsessed with books, by the fifth grade I had a high school reading level and was pursuing books that were beyond most kids in my class. English was my favorite subject, but I didn't learn how to spell my full name until a fourth grade history class when we learned about the state of Virginia.
I remember the painful nights at the kitchen table with my mom begging me to read her one line out of the book. Once I learned to read she and I would read story after story and talk about what we liked best from the book and things we didn't like, and do research on things we didn't know. My mom is probably one of my main literacy sponsors, if we use Brandt's terminology. She knew I would come around, she dug down and sailed through my resistance. My teachers were amazed at my flying colors on my response to things read in class and my English work. I still enjoy reading to this day, but unfortunetly since starting college I have not had much free time to crack a nonacademic book for fun. Which I do not like! Reading can be an escape and give you an alternate life to live for a short time and take you on adventures far beyond what you can really do in life.